Before the year is over, Robin Roberts is delivering a bit of hope and meditation to people. The Good Morning America co-host has teamed up with a number of celebrities for the Meditate America free benefit celebration and concert, taking place Thursday, Dec. 3.
Ahead of the event, Roberts opened up to ET's Kevin Frazier about how she got involved in the project and how Transcendental Meditation changed her life.
"George Stephanopoulos, he was the one who introduced me to TM and his instructor, Bob Roth. It is a beautiful way, especially in this year that we had, to be able to check in with yourself and center yourself and it's a unique way of calming yourself and energizing yourself at the same time."
Transcendental Meditation is a "simple, natural, effortless technique practiced 20 minutes twice a day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed," per Meditate America's website.
The event features Hugh Jackman, Sting, Elvis Costello, Kesha, Katy Perry and many more artists, and is focused on bringing TM to "frontline workers, essential workers, also veterans and families that are facing such stress and trauma," Roberts shared.
Roberts hopes to be able to give people the right tools to better meditate and center themselves.
"To have everybody come together like this and make a meditation, also because we want to bust some myths. You're not sitting around going 'ommmm' ... You can't quiet your mind. That's not the intent. It's to recognize your thoughts, it's to gently push them out, to focus on your mantra and to find a way to [have] quiet time," she shared.
Roberts, meanwhile, has been back in the studio with her GMA team and practicing social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's been wonderful to kind of get back to some normalcy, and I want to stress to people who may be after the first of the year or sometime next year, they're gonna be going back to their office or back to work, I know you feel anxious at first because you are leaving your bubble, your controlled environment," she explained. "But you have to live your life and do it the right way. And we, here, in the studio with social distancing, the only time we don't have a mask on is when we're on the air. We're following all the protocols and I feel completely safe and it's good to be home."
During her chat with ET, Roberts also sent a message to fellow journalist Al Roker, who recently underwent prostate cancer surgery.
"His dear wife, Deborah, works with us and I have been almost in constant contact with her and helping her navigate. Al Roker, he's got this," Roberts, who was previously diagnosed with breast cancer, said. "This man, talk about somebody who is resilient, already back at work. [Sharing] his message, getting the word out, letting people know. I'm so proud of him. Not surprised at all. Both of them have been dear friends…I am not surprised at all that he has handled it with the grace that he hasn't run from it. That he is willing to let his journey be a lesson for others and I'm very confident that things are going to go well for him. My heart goes out to both he and Deb. He's a good man."
As Roberts reflected on 2020, she shared that it's taught her "not to get ahead of ourselves" and "we can handle anything that is thrown our way."
"For 2021, I just want some of the lessons that we learned for 2020 to stay with us," she noted. "I do want to go back to some ways that were before, but also the connection that we've had. Even though we've been apart, we've been together. This is something that the entire world has dealt with together and it has brought us closer I think in many ways. So I want that to continue in 2021 and beyond, but bring it on, right, man? We can handle anything now."
Meditate America will virtually take place Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. ET.
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